Gravitational-wave detection by dispersion force modulation in nanoscale parametric amplifiers

Abstract

Two infinite parallel plane slabs separated by a gap alter the zero-point-energy of the matter-electromagnetic field system. Generally speaking, the corresponding interaction depends on the reflection properties of the boundaries, and therefore on the dielectric functions of both the slab and gap materials, on the gap width, and on the absolute temperature of the system. Importantly, it is known experimentally that dispersion forces can be modulated in time. This can be achieved by mechanically varying the gap width so as to introduce parametric oscillations. Much more fundamentally, however, dispersion forces can be altered by acting on the dielectric functions involved as is the case in semiconductors. In the optical analogy, a gravitational wave introduces an additional time dependence of the effective gap dielectric function. These elements, already confirmed by direct experimentation or predicted from the Lifshitz theory, support the design of a novel approach to ground-based nanoscale gravitational wave detection based on parametric amplification driven by dispersion force modulation.